Stoneheart Part I: Weapons
by Dark Mistress of the Sith
Summary: Two Sith Lords battle for the right of the Rule of Two. Both have forged powerful weapons, in the form of their students, to accomplish their own ends. But when the two apprentices finally do clash, both masters never imagined what would transpire between them. Slightly AU; rating for violence and just because I'm a bit paranoid.
1. Orders

I was a Jedi once. I was taught that the Dark Side was something to be feared and avoided, something that I should never give in to. But even Master Yoda knows that if a power-starved Jedi Knight were to suddenly crave more than they should, disaster would surely follow.

Oddly enough, I found it was not as catastrophic as the Council warned me it would be. As a matter of fact, I found it quite… fulfilling. I have never felt stronger. And now that Lord Rabiem has informed me that I have passed the final test, I feel complete.

Rabiem straightens, and I sink to my knees, bowing before him. He chuckles maliciously. "You have done well, my young apprentice," he says. "You have fought hard."

The sweat pouring from my brow and the harsh blush that screens my fair-skinned face must have told him that. My body still shakes from the intensity of the fight, every muscle screaming for quarter.

"Hence forth, you shall be known as Darth… Callidus."

The white of my smile flashes from underneath my hood. "Thank you, my master."

He turns his palm towards the metal-plated ceiling and lifts it a few inches. "Rise," he commands.

My knees nearly give out from under me as I hoist myself to my feet. "I am prepared to do your bidding, my lord," I nearly recite, breathing heavily.

His hooded form, a little more than a shadow in the darkness of the training hall, turns to look out the window. The orange light from the outside world squeezes in through the tiny vents in the opening and tints the rest of the room with its light. "You know Sidious is planning to reveal our existence to the Jedi, do you not?"

I stiffen. The name of my master's competitor for the Rule of Two puts a hateful gleam in my eye as I move to stand by his side. "Yes, Master."

"And he has built a powerful weapon to do so," Rabiem analyzes, his gaze not leaving the barred window for even a second. "One he will surely use to destroy us if it is released."

"I shall bring it to you then, my master, and we can turn its power against him."

He chuckles. "If only it were that easy," he says, his voice lingering on every syllable that leaves his mouth.

My sweaty brow creases under my hood. "What do you mean?"

Rabiem turns away from the window, his shadowed silhouette gliding like a shaded phantom across the chamber. "This weapon is not a machine you will be hunting, my apprentice. But a person. A very powerful person. One who has been forged into a missile to be aimed at the Jedi and fired." His voice fairly drips with ill-will for his rival. "I knew not that Sidious had an apprentice. I thought I had outmatched him in finding one first. The Force has told me otherwise." He sighs. "I thought annihilating Sidious would be a far easier task than this."

"And…?" I take one step in his direction.

"I was wrong."

"What would you have me do, my lord?" The words tumble out of my mouth as the unnerving realization overcomes me.

"I want him hunted down and destroyed!" The sweet aroma of the Dark Side fills the air like a saccharine perfume as he speaks. "This… Zabrak is Sidious' only defense. Annihilate him and Sidious loses his sword and shield in one fell swoop."

I nod. "It will be done, my master. Allow me a respite-"

"There is no respite!" he thunders. "I want this apprentice dead!" He adds in a paralyzing hiss, "And you know very well the nature of the consequences that failure or apathy would inflict upon you."

I know them far too well.

Rabiem's voice softens into an eerily compassionate whisper. "You have shown me now what you are capable of, my apprentice. Now it is time to show _them_."

My hand falls to the lightsaber hanging idly at my side as I turn and briskly begin to exit the room.

"No hesitation," Rabiem calls after me. "Show no mercy."


	2. Adversaries

The crowded streets of Coruscant offer many hiding places for my target. Using the Force as a guide, I push through the throng, towards a tall, black building that darkens the golden sky. The Dark Side feels particularly strong there, so I waste no time in getting to it.

I mount my speeder, which had been waiting for me around the corner, and shoot off into the traffic. I see a small landing platform close to the top of the building. The closer I get to it, the larger and more menacing the building looks. And the more putrid the scent of the Dark Side grows.

Soon, I notice that the platform is heavily guarded with Trade Federation droids. _Trade Federation droids? What use would Sidious have of them?_

Pulling out my saber, I accelerate and jump onto the platform, my speeder skidding to a stop. I launch myself from the speeder and ignite my lightsaber, crashing down on the droids with rising fury. Mechanical limbs shower the traffic below. One of the remaining droids tries to fire, but I use the Force to hurl it and its counterparts off the side, watching them fall with a victorious smirk stretched across my face.

Looking over my shoulder, I push the door open with the Force, relying on every ounce of stealth I have as I sneak through the door. The hallways are almost pitch black; close to no light makes its way in through the shuddered windows. Knowing I won't be able to go much of anywhere in this light, I turn my saber back on, using it as something of a torch.

I begin to look around. Multiple tunnel-like hallways wind off in several directions and fade into the black. Reaching out with the Dark Side, I find that its fragrance is much stronger to my left.

I slip through the entrance and begin to creep down the corridor. My eyes narrow as I try to peer beyond the light that my saber is emitting; my feet make no sound as I go farther in.

Soon, my senses divide the beautiful black mass of the Dark Side into two separate presences, both of them unfathomably close. Heightening my awareness, I stop and reach out again with the Force, trying to figure out the direction in which my adversary lies. My head snaps up, and I wheel around, thinking that I felt something behind me.

It's in that very second that I hear a lightsaber ignite behind me.

And then another.

There are two of them.

No sooner than my chin passes my shoulder am I suddenly knocked to the ground with the strongest blast of the Force I think I have ever felt. I pull myself back on my feet and leap backwards, my feet hitting the ground behind my opponent.

He has to be at least three times my size. And a dozen times more powerful…

His head whips around, and he brings his own blood red blade crashing down on top of mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I see another red blade flash in the darkness, and I move to block it.

It's not two people, but one person with a double-sided saber.

Our blades cut through the air in a rapidly aggressive red blur. I try to find a gap in the attack, and when I do, I use the Force to send a swift kick into my opponent's gut.

He takes one step backwards and launches himself at me again as if I had never hit him.

The Force picks me up and lifts me into the air, and something hard slams into my abdomen. Coughing and breathless, I lie on the ground, fighting to catch my breath. The huge, black mass charges at me again but is cut short when I gather my remaining strength and send a bolt of Force lightning barreling towards him.

One end of the red saber jerks into the air, holding back my assault with ease. Finally, I give up on that plan and try to get back onto my feet, but I'm tackled to the ground. The wind is knocked out of me again and I begin to cough, but any attempt to try to pull oxygen back into my lungs is cut short when my adversary digs his knee into my stomach. His forearm clamps down across my collarbone, pinning my shoulders to the ground, and he uses the Force to lock my arms in place.

Using my last bit of strength, I fight to break free, but I am no match for his brute strength. I try to squirm, but the Force has frozen all of my joints.

A pair of demonic yellow eyes stare into mine, and I'm sure I'm looking upon the face of death itself.

He begins to pry around in my mind with the Force, and I'm far too weak to resist his advances. His eyes narrow to glowing slits.

"So _that's_ who you are…" he says in a deep, throaty growl.

I feel my neck begin to collapse onto itself, and I struggle for air.

I am sure I have met my death.

He continues to infiltrate my mind, and eventually he breaks down a door that I have kept Rabiem successfully shut out of for years. My eyes widen in fear.

And his widen in shock.

I hear his voice in my head: _You, too?_

My brow furrows. _What? _

_You are your master's pawn. _

_Of course I am. Or else I wouldn't be here. _

_And you feel as if you're no more than that in his eyes?_

I fight to shut him out, but the look in his eyes informs me that he has already found his answer.

To my surprise, he extinguishes his lightsaber. Air pours into my lungs in a sudden rush, and I begin to cough violently. His knee is withdrawn from my gut. I am pulled up by my shoulders, and he pushes my back against the wall. His eyes are still cold and menacing, but the ferocity in them has softened a bit.

And that frightens me.

He looks at me expectantly, as if he is waiting for me to say something.

"Rabiem sent me here to kill you," I diffidently stutter.

I cast me eyes down, but his hand glides underneath my jaw and raises my face to look at him again.

"Then why haven't you destroyed me yet?" he asks, gravel in his deep voice.

"I… I can't…" I fumble. "I- I'm too weak…"

A devilish grin spreads across his face, and his grip on my shoulders tightens. I try to probe his mind, but his fortifications are so strong that it gives me a headache just to try to knock them down. I wince.

"Don't give me that," he growls. I feel my airways begin to close off again, and I'm raised into the air, clawing at my neck.

Huge black and purple splotches start to dance in front of my eyes. The room is spinning. And I don't have much time left.

"Have… mercy…" I cough out.

"Mercy?" he chuckles mockingly. "Any semblance of mercy was choked out of me long ago."

All of his power is focused on crushing my neck, so I use my last bit of strength to make one last effort to probe his mind. With him being distracted like this, I somehow manage to slip in.

And what I find astounds me.

He hates and loves Sidious every bit as much as I hate and love Rabiem.

My strength begins to wane, and in an effort to save myself, I try one last thing:

"I know you hate him, Maul!" I cry. "I can help you destroy him! And we can take this Rule of Two for ourselves!"

Maul's expression completely changes, and I plummet towards the ground, gasping and coughing violently. I feel his hands grasp my shoulders, and he stabilizes my weakened body to a sitting position.

"What did you say?"

I can only look at him before my body slumps forward and everything goes black.


	3. Conspiracy

Slowly, I begin to come to my senses. The bed of concrete that I have been lying on has hardened the muscles in my back into a singular, stiff mass. Fresh air pours into my lungs. The sounds of the city echo through my ears.

I finally pry my eyes open. Stars pepper the indigo sky, and a gentle wind cools my skin. My body is still weakened by the battles I have fought today, but a tangible strength is surging through it, building it back to par. Slowly, I sit up and stretch, fumbling for the ends of my cloak to shut out the cold. It, along with my jumpsuit, is soaked with my now cold sweat. Abandoning any hopes of it keeping me warm, I let it lay limp on the floor. The tops of my bare shoulders and arms tremble in the cold, so I let my hair down, using it as something of a blanket. Its intense black darkens my porcelain skin in long, inky runnels.

I gingerly hoist myself to my feet. I now realize that I'm standing on the roof of one of Coruscant's many thousand-story buildings. After further scrutinizing my surroundings, I discover that I'm far from Sidious' lair.

As a matter of fact, I'm on the complete opposite side of the planet from it.

My brow furrows in confusion. _Why am I here?_ I think. Then another realization hits me:

_I should be dead. Maul should have killed me. Why didn't he kill me?_

I suddenly feel his presence envelop me, and I turn around. At first, I only see his speeder, which is much larger than mine, sitting alone on another corner of the roof. Then my eyes cross a dark, hooded figure that blots out the vibrant city lights in front of it.

Curiosity overcoming my better judgment, I slowly begin to move towards him. Because I couldn't see him all that well earlier, I didn't realize just how imposing he actually is. His height was one of the only things I could visibly notice during our little skirmish earlier, and now I can see that he has a remarkably well-built form to compliment it. If I were standing next to him, my head would barely reach the top of his shoulder, and I would look like a twig. His powerful arms are folded across his chest, and his sharp eyes stealthily scan the steady stream of traffic that flows through the levels below him. He's the very embodiment of vigor and dark jurisdiction, and the Dark Side streams off of him like intoxicating cologne.

His power literally beckons me to him, and I go without hesitation.

That scares me.

Yet my limbs still move forward.

"You seem confused," he says to me over his shoulder.

I sigh. "I am. I should be dead."

"Yes, you should be."

"Then why am I still alive?"

A new pang of fear resonates through me. Has he brought me here to kill me?

"I needed time to think," he admits. "I knew if I reached a certain conclusion, I would need you alive in order to see if it was the right course of action."

My brow furrows. _What is he getting at?_

I see the obsidian fabric in his cloak crease as he looks over his broad shoulder at me. The hardness that was in his glowing yellow eyes has almost completely vanished; he watches me with distrustful wariness.

This is the first time either of us has really gotten a good look at the other person, and I can tell that he's just as taken aback as I am.

Slowly, he turns back around, using the Force to monitor my thoughts and movements. I pause a few feet behind him.

"I gave some thought to your proposition," he finally says. "I brought you here so Sidious could not overhear my answer."

My eyes widen. I had only suggested usurping our masters in hopes of saving myself. I didn't think that he would take me so seriously.

"And…?" I say cautiously.

I pause a few feet behind him, and he turns around to face me. It's then I notice his sharp features and the jagged, red and black tattoos that jut across his face. I can barely see a few of his horns that are attempting to hide themselves under his hood.

I stare into his eyes, paralyzed and rendered speechless by his vigorous gaze.

"I'm rather… intrigued… by it." He pauses. "But I'm still not fit to trust you with any assassination plans," he adds, a harsh, distrusting edge to his tone.

"Why not?" I ask, the question sounding foolish even in my own ears.

He lets out an exasperated sigh. "You tried to kill me a few hours ago!"

"And I failed."

"You and Rabiem together would outmatch me," he growls. "Don't think I can't see what you're attempting to hide, mistress. I can see right though you." He takes a menacing step forward, pointing an accusing finger in my face.

My brow furrows with confusion. My physical strength may be almost fully replenished by now, but my sharpness in mind is not.

The cold, angry glare I get in response is the only answer I need.

He still thinks I'm bound and determined to take his life.

But I know that if I could sway him to my side, he would make a powerful ally.

"I… I can't kill you," I stutter. "Even if I wanted to."

He eyes me suspiciously. "Why not?"

"Because I need you."

His leery, mocking laugh is the only response I get.

"Rabiem sent me out here directly following another skirmish that nearly cost me my life," I make an attempt to defend myself. "This isn't the first time he's done that. I was already exhausted when I was dispatched to hunt you down. Had he allowed me a respite, I might not be thinking how I am now."

I feel Maul begin to prod around in my mind for the validity of my previous statement. After a few long minutes, his hard gaze softens, reconsideration swarming his thoughts.

When he tries to push deeper into my mind, I let him. He needs to know the truth to its fullest extent before he can even begin to trust me. I watch him intently, a little bit of hope rising up inside me. If I could list Maul as my co-conspirator, then Rabiem's punishment for his selfish incompetence would be death. A death that I want so badly for him to die…

I can see by the shock carved into Maul's face that he knows and believes that now.

"So you _do_ want to kill him…" he says slowly, his voice lacking the distrust that it held before.

I nod. "I am not his instrument," I reply passionately. "I am not his tool, even though he may think I am. I'm tired of being his errand-girl. If Rabiem wants you dead so badly, he'll have to hunt you down himself."

Maul chuckles hoarsely. "Good."

He knows for a fact that I'm no longer at his throat. And it's unmistakable that he isn't going to kill me, either. I have enormous respect for him, and I know he returns it.

But we're still miles away from gaining each other's trust.

And that is not going to be easy.


	4. Mission

**Hey everybody. Just a heads up: This could be the last update for a while because school just started and I have to keep track of 2 AP classes. Fun... Anyways, enjoy the story! **

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I was allowed the rest of the night to regain my strength before Maul and I left the planet last week. This was to be my test: I would accompany him on several missions to the Outer Rim territories to hunt down a slumlord that had apparently ruffled Sidious' feathers. And if I did exactly what Maul told me to do and registered no signs of premeditated betrayal, I would be closer to gaining his trust.

However, I severely doubt that we will ever be able to fully trust one another.

Maul was in the process of being dispatched to hunt down his target when I encountered him. To say the least, he wasn't too pleased to find me as his house guest. And when I woke up on that rooftop afterwards, he was still cold and unwelcoming.

But I knew I could use him.

Close to nothing has changed since then; he still uses the Force to monitor my every movement like an invisible security hologram, and I am still forced to keep every door to every part of my mind wide open to him. He can literally read my thoughts like a book. However, his walls will not come down, no matter how hard I batter them. He is stubborn and demanding, but he hasn't pushed me beyond what I can handle. Yet.

I have spent almost the entire flight in a back cabin on the _Scimitar_, contemplating the complexity of my current situation. Two bitter enemies have pitted themselves against everything they have ever been taught and joined forces in hopes of finding revenge. Maul and I do not just seek the head of an indebted slum lord and ultimately, the heads of our masters. We're on the hunt for our own freedom.

At least, I know I am. I can never be completely sure about him.

In the time we've been scourging the Outer Rim, I may have only seen him once or twice. He has barely left the cockpit. I have gotten close to getting another peak into his mind when his guard is down, but I never get far before his fortifications are up and I am shut out.

His elusiveness is uncanny. Frighteningly enough, that is another thing that pulls me to him without explanation.

I will be honest: I am intimidated by him. It's not a full-out, run-for-the-hills fear, but it's close. The closer he gets to me, the worse it gets.

But his intimidation also inexplicably draws me to him.

I am aware that it makes absolutely no sense. It may even be a bit masochistic. But the mystery that shrouds him makes him all the more… intriguing.

I feel the _Scimitar_ go into autopilot, and my senses indicate that the cockpit is unoccupied.

He is coming for me.

I hear the hydraulics in the door hiss as it slides open, and the toxic gas of Maul's presence fills the room. My back faces the door and my hood is up; I'm lying on my side on a bunk, fighting desperately to ignore his company and cut him off from my mind.

But even fully rested, I do not have the power to keep myself from being overcome by him.

Slowly, but not reluctantly, I sit up and take down my hood. I have found over the past week that his countenance microscopically softens when he can see my face. It's not much, but I'll take it.

His massive, black-shrouded silhouette almost completely fills the doorway; his arms are folded across his chest, and he peers at me from under his hood with expectant, yellow eyes.

Without hesitation, I feel my limbs begin to move and stand me up. My feet take a few unconscious steps towards Maul, a tiny voice inside me screaming at them to stop. But before I know it, I'm standing only a few feet in front of him, his towering form looming over me imposingly.

He motions for me to follow him, and he turns out of the door, moving so briskly that the wind he creates blows the hood off of his horned head. I have to trot to keep up with his long stride.

When we reach the cockpit, Maul silently points to a large, dust-colored planet that hangs in front of us. I move closer to the window, putting my hands on the dashboard and leaning towards it to get a better look.

Rabiem took me to just about every corner of the Outer Rim while he was training me, but I have never seen this planet before.

"Where are we?" I ask.

"Tatooine," Maul solemnly replies. "Cror is hiding down there, somewhere. I can feel it. Once we land, we should be able to find his hideout quickly."

I nod. Maul's phenomenal tracking skills have not failed him. My senses can't quite reach as far as his can, but I should be able to get an idea of where Cror's lair is once we enter Tatooine's atmosphere.

Slowly, the black, star-peppered sky turns to purple as we descend onto the planet. The dark top of a cliff looms in the distance, and the _Scimitar_ speeds towards it. After hovering for what seems like hours, it lands in the middle of the plateau.

I hear the gangplank drop with a hiss behind me. Pulling up his hood, Maul gets to his feet and heads down the hallway, a string of shiny, black probe droids trailing behind him. They shoot out the ship, down the gangplank, and onto the top of the cliff.

Pausing in the middle of the hallway, Maul looks over his shoulder at me keenly. Hesitantly, I pull myself to my feet and start to follow him out the ship.

The heat nearly knocks me over when we come out. Three moons, one much larger than the other two, hang in the sky over the tops of the jagged outline of a mountain range. One of the probe droids is hovering at the base of the gangplank, awaiting orders. After scanning the horizon with a pair of high-powered electrobinoculars, Maul gives the coordinates of one of Tatooine's quadrants to one of the droids using a silver cuff on his wrist. I can feel the small, hot breeze that the droid and its counterparts give off as they go whistling past me and into the distance.

Unable to bear the intense heat any longer, I pull off my robe and put it back inside the ship. With only the jumpsuit and my lightsaber on now, I head back outside. Maul is sitting at the bottom of the gangplank, watching the probe droids fly past the horizon. I slowly come up behind him and sit down next to him, not daring to look at him.

"What do we do now?" I ask, feeling a bit foolish as the question leaves my mouth.

Maul sighs. "We wait."


	5. Waiting

Some think that patience is a virtue. I consider it a skill. One that Maul has mastered and I could afford to work on. We've waited long into the night for the droids' return, but we've seen nothing. Most likely, Maul has informed me, we will be waiting here for the better part of a day for them to come back.

I have never been one for long waits. Or heat. Being raised on Coruscant took the tolerance for both of those things completely out of my system. To say the least, I'm miserable at the moment.

Trying to find a good side to my situation, I lean back and look at the stars. The city lights of Coruscant always extinguished the lights in the sky, but here, the sky is peppered with them. I've never seen so many of them in my life. After several minutes of star-gazing, I almost feel at peace.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Maul steal a sideways glance at me. The black fabric in his hood contorts as he looks upwards towards the sky. The same ethereal serenity that surrounds me is quick to envelop him. He leans back on the heels of his hands, still looking at the massive swirl of stars in the sky. A hushed awe overtakes both of us simultaneously.

"There are so many of them," I say, softly breaking the silence. "You can't see them on Coruscant. Not like this."

I see Maul nod. "There have been times where I've been on mission where the sky was so full of stars it almost hurt to look at it."

I sigh. "I can't imagine…"

He turns to look at me again, but his gaze isn't as fleeting as it was before. His eyes are the softest I've seen them yet; they're still incredibly hard and ill-boding, but not to the degree that I have seen them before.

My face is flushed pink by sweat and the beginnings of dehydration.

"Is the heat getting to you?" Maul randomly inquires, eyeing me intently. He sounds like I should not be fazed by it.

I only nod in response.

Then I notice that despite the grueling heat, he's not perspiring.

"You're hardly sweating!"

He shakes his head indifferently. "It will get worse with the sunrise."

I wince. "It doesn't seem to daunt you."

"I was raised on Mustafar. I've felt much worse."

"That explains a few things," I exclaim, tugging at a fold of the heavy, black robe that is still draped over his body.

A quick, loud inhale suggests the closest thing I think he has to a genuine laugh. And when he looks on me again, his gaze has softened even more. I find this unnerving and calming all at the same time.

I sigh, closing my eyes with contentment. When they reopen, I find my body is soaked with new sweat, and I am squinting into the late-morning light. Maul is standing at the edge of the cliff, watching the horizon for the probe droids. My limbs move subconsciously to a standing position, and I slowly move forward. To my surprise, his Force signature registers no signs of discomfort from my close proximity or the broiling heat.

I sigh. This is going to be miserable few weeks.

Maul looks down on my petite form with a mocking grin. "I told you it would get worse," he teases.

My shoulders sag, and he chuckles.

"Oh, you'll survive. We have both seen much worse than this."

He is right about that.

Slowly, I look back up at him. Distrust is still sunken deep into his piercing eyes, but the hardness that accompanied it has vanished. And something else, something newer and… _almost_ friendly… has replaced it.

It's a hint of understanding.

I freeze, but it's no longer fear that cements me in place.

It's pure, unadulterated curiosity.

And he is not shunning it. In fact, he's _returning_ it.

Waiting for those droids might not be as awful as I initially thought it would be...


End file.
